I picked up a book by Lee Howey, journeyman footballer and brother of Steve Howey ex Newcastle on the kindle for £2 today, had decent reviews about being very down to earth look at the life of a lower level pro etc. etc.....
Anyway, Howey writes about the time was a 17 year old trainee at Ipswich and was sent to play with the reserves for the first time, the game was away at Southend ;
"Our last match before Christmas in my first year was away to Southend United on 21 December. We weren’t allowed to play at Roots Hall, but we changed there and were minibussed to and from the pitch we did use.
After the game, which we lost 2–0, Neil Emmerson, Martin Young and I were milling around outside Roots Hall. We were about to make our way back to the North East for Christmas and working out the walking route to the railway station when we heard a shout from behind. ‘What are you waiting for, lads?’ We turned round. Oh my God – and it very nearly was. Bobby Moore stood before us. ‘Star struck’ might be a hackneyed expression, but there is no better way to describe the moment.
The man we had seen in all those famous, famous images from 1966 was addressing us. Our powers of speech were momentarily in retreat, but between us we managed to explain. He smiled. ‘Come with me. I’ll ring you a taxi.’ Mr Moore was in charge of Southend at the time. We followed him to his office where he rang the cab. While we were waiting for it he asked us about ourselves, what positions we played, where we were from, what we wanted out of life and football generally. He seemed to take a genuine interest. We answered him politely and eagerly, but our solitary collective thought was: ‘It’s Bobby Moore! It’s Bobby Moore! It’s Bobby Moore!…’
All too soon the taxi arrived and we said our thank yous and goodbyes. When it pulled away we sat in complete silence, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. That was my sole and brief experience of the great man and it only reinforced the general opinion of him: that he was a true gentleman.
All these years later I remain thrilled at the thought of that chance meeting."
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